The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s FREE Christmas Carol Sing is this Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in Overture Hall. Plus, FREE UW Wind Ensemble concert, featuring a world premiere, is this Friday night.

By Jacob Stockinger

FREE MADISON SYMPHONY CAROL SING

The Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) invites the entire community to a sing-along with the Overture Concert Organ (below) at a FREE Christmas Carol Sing in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on this coming Saturday, Dec. 6, at 11 a.m. (A sample, with “Adeste Fideles” or “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” at Westminster Abbey in England is at the bottom in a YouTube video.)

All ages are welcome and the event is FREE. No registration or tickets are required.

MSO Principal Organist and Curator Samuel Hutchison (below, in a photo by Joe DeMaio) will lead the carol singing, which will last approximately 45 minutes.

For more holiday singing, come 45 minutes early to each performance of A Madison Symphony Christmas concert to hear the Madison Symphony Chorus sing Christmas carols in the festively-lit lobby of the Overture Center. 

Here is a link to more information about the concert:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/classical-music-qa-soprano-alyson-cambridge-talks-about-crossing-genres-and-how-to-attract-ethically-diverse-audiences-to-classical-music-and-opera-she-sings-with-the-madison-symphony-orchestra/

Those concerts are on Friday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2:30 p.m. in Overture Hall and tickets can be purchased at www.madisonsymphony.org/singletickets and through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141.

With a gift from the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the Madison Symphony Orchestra commissioned the Overture Concert Organ, which is the stunning backdrop of all MSO concerts.

MSO Principal Organist Samuel Hutchison programs and curates the instrument that was custom-built by Klais Organ Works in Bonn, Germany.

In addition to the Free Farmers’ Market Concerts, the instrument is featured in the annual MSO Christmas concert, along with several Free Community Hymn Sings and a Christmas Carol Sing.

See details for all organ performances at www.madisonsymphony.org/organperformances.

Support for all Overture Concert Organ programs is provided by the Diane Endres Ballweg Fund. For more information, please contact the MSO at (608) 257-3734 or email info@madisonsymphony.org.

UW-MADISON WIND ENSEMBLE

This Friday night, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music and the UW Wind Ensemble (below) will present “The Wisconsin Idea and a Premiere” with faculty soloists UW-Madison bassoonist Marc Vallon and UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe.

The UW Wind Ensemble continues its tradition of “Wisconsin Idea” performances when it shares the stage with the Oconomowoc (Wisconsin) High School Wind Symphony (below), Michael Krofta, conductor.

The UW Wind Ensemble will give the premiere performance of “A Dialogue with Self and Soul,” a concerto commissioned by the UW-Madison from composer and conductor James Stephenson (below).

Basoonist Marc Vallon (below top, in photo by James Gill) and baritone Paul Rowe (below bottom, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) will be faculty soloists.

Closing the program will be a sneak peek of the March 2015 Carnegie Hall performance and Wisconsin premiere of “The Frozen Cathedral” by John Mackey. Also included is Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral by Richard Wagner/Cailliet.

This concert will be streamed live on the Internet! Please check this link and sign up for a reminder preceding the concert.

Here is a link:

https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1969065/UWWEwOconomowocHS

The ensemble’s director is Scott Teeple (below).

The Wind Ensemble is the premier wind and percussion ensemble at the UW-Madison School of Music. Repertoire varies from classical wind compositions to contemporary works. The Wind Ensemble actively commissions new works from world-renowned composers, often performing with internationally acclaimed soloists and guest conductors.